After 31 Years of Service, Kim Roberts Hedgpeth Steps Down as Co-National Executive Director of SAG-AFTRA

LOS ANGELES, CA (April 16, 2012) --- SAG-AFTRA today announced that Kim Roberts Hedgpeth has decided to step down as SAG-AFTRA Co-National Executive Director on April 30, after 31 years of service to union performers, recording artists and broadcast professionals working in the entertainment and news media industries.

“It was with great pride and enormous satisfaction that I joined union members, colleagues, and staff on March 30th to celebrate the overwhelming vote in favor of the merger of AFTRA and SAG,” said Hedgpeth. “Having achieved this important goal, for which many of us worked tirelessly for so many years, now is the right moment to begin a new chapter in life. I am grateful for the love, respect, and support of our staff and leadership team. And I know the SAG-AFTRA membership will be well served under the leadership of Co-National Presidents Ken Howard and Roberta Reardon and National Executive Director David White.”

Roberta Reardon praised Hedgpeth, saying: “Kim is in a league of her own. She has dedicated much of her professional life to AFTRA and we are all stronger because of that passion and dedication. Through her remarkable negotiating skills at the bargaining table, her superb administration of the Union and her principled attentiveness to the needs of members, Kim has improved the careers and lives of thousands of union members around the nation. She is an inspiration to me and everyone around her, and I am eternally grateful to Kim for her expertise, her guidance and, most of all, her close and sustaining friendship these many years.”

SAG-AFTRA Co-National President Ken Howard said, "Kim has been a strong voice and committed activist on behalf of performers for more than 30 years. We are all extremely grateful for her hard work. She leaves a legacy of outstanding service and representation on behalf of our members and I wish her the best in all her future endeavors."

SAG-AFTRA Co-National Executive Director David White said, “Kim's tireless effort and many contributions to performers over the years helped build first AFTRA, and now SAG-AFTRA, on solid foundations that will support and represent actors, broadcasters and recording artists for years to come. I am personally grateful for her leadership during the merger process and the work that she has done to ensure a successful integration of our two organizations. She has our heartfelt thanks and our very best wishes for future success as she embarks on the next chapter in her career."

Hedgpeth had served as AFTRA’s National Executive Director since 2005. During her career at AFTRA, she served as Chief Negotiator for AFTRA’s national agreements for network news, scripted programming, non-dramatic programs, sound recordings and radio broadcasting, as well as hundreds of local TV and radio station staff and freelance negotiations for various AFTRA Locals. She held a variety of positions in the union since first joining the AFTRA staff in 1981, including Co-Executive Director of the New York Local, Executive Director of the AFTRA San Francisco Local/SAG San Francisco Branch, AFTRA Assistant National Executive Director for News and Broadcast and AFTRA’s Associate National Executive Director.

Hedgpeth is a graduate of Harvard University and Georgetown University Law Center, and from 1998 to 2001, she took a brief hiatus from the Union to serve as Director of Labor and Employee Relations at Harvard University and Vice-President of Human Resources for Safe Horizon in New York City.

Hedgpeth also served as a Trustee of the AFTRA Health & Retirement Funds, a member of the boards of the AFM-AFTRA Intellectual Property Rights Distribution Fund, Alliance of Artists and Recording Companies and SoundExchange, a Vice President of the AFL-CIO’s Department for Professional Employees and a Vice President of the Associated Actors and Artistes of America. She is a member of the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco, 12th District Economic Advisory Council.